Jason Statuto, a Passaic County assistant prosecutor, argued against reducing bail, saying Woetzel has a troubled driving history, a previous drunken-driving conviction and a history of substance abuse.

Authorities said Woetzel, 48, drove his Dodge Ram through a police barricade on Aug. 10, crashed though fruit and vegetable stands in a crowded Sunday farmers’ market, and kept going for several blocks, dragging 58-year-old Donna Marie Wine of Hawthorne to her death.

Bickert said at the bail hearing in Hackensack that Woetzel cooperated with police after he was arrested, and that police did not find any evidence of intoxication or reckless behavior.

Woetzel was taken to a hospital after the crash, and when doctors asked him if he was getting treatment for his diabetes, Woetzel replied that he was not even aware that he was diabetic, Bickert said.

Statuto said blood samples have been sent to a New Jersey State Police laboratory to determine whether Woetzel was intoxicated by any drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash. The tests usually take several weeks to complete, Statuto said.

While Woetzel was being questioned by police in Hawthorne, Statuto said, he told investigators that he had been involved in a crash in Fair Lawn three years earlier after he “blacked out” behind the wheel.

Statuto stressed that Woetzel is accused of driving through a police barricade and into a crowd of people in the Hawthorne case.

“I think the recklessness in this case speaks for itself,” he said.

Woetzel was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair and did not speak during the hearing, looking forlorn as he sat next to his attorney.

Besides leaving his bail intact, Clark ruled that Woetzel will not be allowed to drive even if he makes bail. At a hearing two weeks ago, she ordered him to surrender his driver’s license.